Anybody else find it a bit… struggle for the right word… the CBC held within its walls a man that was known within the circles to use his position to sexually assault women… and now it comes down harshly upon the Game of Thrones for its most recent rape scene… the right word escapes me.

Doesn’t really matter. The CBC isn’t the only outlet that is worked up over the rape of Sansa Stark.

It is horrific. And it should be. It should turn your gut. Alfie Allen’s face is a tapestry of guilt, shame, and horror as the violence is done. While we were spared seeing the act, we weren’t spared the pain and degradation.

What were people expecting from Ramsay Bolton on his wedding night? This is the man that hunts down ex-lovers for sport, who cuts penises off to send to fathers, who pridefully destroyed a man to make him into a pet named Reek. He flays the living to make a point about paying taxes. His father murdered Sansa’s brother and mother. Did we expect that Ramsay would try to woo consent from Sansa? No. Fucking his new wife would not be enough for Ramsay, the man who thrives on dishing out degradation. To mark is territory, he would need to violate her.

The writers did a good thing to make sure that we understood that the Bolton and Stark marriage was consummated in rape. Putting Theon in the room and reporting the event through his horror and shame made sure that we knew exactly what was happening. There is no skipping over it. There is no possibility of misinterpretation.

I look forward even more to seeing what Sansa will do, how her character will develop. Ramsay is an idiot with a single talent. But Sansa is discovering more about herself and her strength. She won’t be crushed by Ramsay.

When I first started watching the Game of Thrones, I was expecting something nice where the character of the actor I like very much, Sean Bean, would one day find his way to the throne. The End. But we all know how that turned out. When Ned Stark’s head rolled onto the stones of King’s Landing, I knew that nobody was going to be safe.

While I’m not sure what the critics wanted from the wedding night, I suppose is reassuring that there is such outrage to the rape of Sansa. Of what I’ve read, it is unanimous that it was rape. However, I’m sure there are those who find it difficult to see that Sansa was raped. She was legally married in a ceremony she fully participated in. She didn’t actually say “no.” And if she happens to bring charges against Ramsay, I don’t expect that the local maesters nor whoever would pass as the police will find the charge of rape to be with merit. Thus, according to guys like Eddie, in a posting he made on FaceBook about performance art, that makes it not a rape.

Eddie — Obviously if the school – AND – the police declined to file charges then there is no evidence of a rape and the bitch is just lying. He probably turned her down and she got her “feelings hurt” which is the case in over 70% of rapes reported across the u.s. Woman should not lie and make up stories over something so serious. It’s just not right what these woman do to men these days. (I left his errors uncorrected.)

Guys like Eddie are idiots with thick skulls. Calling them such on FaceBook isn’t going to make them any smarter. However, talking about the rape of Sansa Stark just might nudge a bit of sense into the “Eddies” out there. Unless the guy is utterly broken, he can’t escape the wrongness and the depravity of Ramsay’s act nor can he, with his dignity and decency intact, make the case it wasn’t rape. There are points of discussion around what is consent — she agreed to a marriage but not to being violated. Where is that line that defines violation? Why does rape often go unreported? Why do those raped often balk at going to court?

What I’ve found disappointing in the articles that I’ve read is that nobody is using this art as a focal point in the discussion of rape. Instead, there is hand wringing a plenty over the morality of the artists. If they want something safe to watch, they ought to torrent “Dallas” and join a meaningless discussion of “Who shot J.R.?”

And he’s got that flavour that Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert have. Or, at least in the same sort of genre ballpark as they are. If we consider a rather large ballpark. I think my favourite parts are when Larry is talking to Jon at the end of the Daily Show. After watching that few seconds of banter, I’ve thought to myself that I’d give Larry’s show a shot. Even after having given the show a shot, the banter has brought me back into the ballpark to see what’s happening.

Small doses. Bits on the Daily Show and bits at the end of the Daily Show. But when I watch the larger doses, I can’t even finish it. Tonight I watched Larry Wilmore talking about Hillary’s announcement for the Presidency. His guests were an idiot and two smart women, an actress and a journalist. The dog in the trash bit as good. The Game of Thrones bit was good. But the banter sucked. The idiot should have kept his mouth more shut in deference to the smarter people around him. However, he does have his purpose and that’s where I think my patience with watching Larry fades. Larry, more than once, cut off the actress for the sake of a joke. Larry does that a lot – cut off discussion for the sake of a chuckle. Jon gets to the joke without taking a detour from the content. Larry seems to lack the confidence to do that. Jon leaves you with the impression that he actually knows his shit. Larry stays with the low hanging fruit because it is easier and not as risky as the meat of the issue. Getting back to the purpose of the idiot… The only reason to keep an idiot at the table is to cover the low end of the spectrum, to keep you from looking too dumb. The problem though is that the bar gets defined by the idiot and it gets defined low.

I watch shows with hosts like Stewart because, while the politics might be comfortable, the intellect and the humour are, well, not disappointing. That’s not quite the right word. Put it a different way. I think sitting with a group of friends drinking coffee chatting about stuff, Jon would invigorate and challenge the conversation. The Larry on his show would get tiresome always trying to score that chuckle with some quip that he thought was funny.

Actually, I think Larry on his show isn’t quite the real Larry. I think if he didn’t try so hard to get the chuckles, if he let the issues he’s trying to discuss get out on the table more, it might be a show I’d watch. I hope so. Colbert is gone. Stewart is going. I’m not sure where I’m going to be getting my news with the appropriate liberal bias.